President Akufo-Addo has appealed to all African countries which are yet to ratify the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement to do so between now and the end of December 2020, before trading starts on 1 January 2021.
The agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area entered into force on 30 May 2019 for the 24 countries which had deposited their instruments of ratification.
The 22-country threshold was reached on 29 April 2019, in conformity with legal provisions, when Sierra Leone and the Saharawi Republic deposited their instruments of ratification.
To date, 30 countries have both signed and approved ratification of the AfCFTA Agreement. Of the 55 AU member states, only Eritrea has not yet signed.
Addressing the official commissioning and handing over of the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat at Africa Trade House in Accra today, 17 August 2020, President Akufo-Addo said all the remaining 25 member states which are yet to ratify the agreement must sign up before the end of the year to give the agreement the implementation support it needs from the whole continent.
“The economic integration of Africa,” President Akufo-Addo said, “will lay a strong foundation for an Africa Beyond Aid.
“It is for this reason that I have continued in the footsteps of my predecessors in fighting for the cause of African unity. An effective implementation of the AfCFTA will dispel the notion that the [African Union] is not capable of executing its own decisions.
“Africa’s new sense of urgency and aspiration of true self-reliance will be amply demonstrated by today’s ceremony,” President Akufo-Addo said.
“In this regard, I appeal to all member states who are yet to ratify the AfCFTA agreement to take advantage of the postponement of the date for start of trading and to do so by December 2020, to enable us to trade fully amongst ourselves, so we can harness the benefits of the AfCFTA together,” the president said.
AfCFTA and the coronavirus pandemic
According to President Akufo-Addo, the COVID-19 pandemic “has heightened the importance of the success of the AfCFTA”.
“The disruption of global supply chains,” he added, “has reinforced the necessity for closer integration among us so that we can boost our mutual self-sufficiency, strengthen our economies and reduce our dependence on external sources.
“We are now the world’s largest free trade area since the formation of the World Trade Organization and we must make it count,” Akufo-Addo said.
More effort
President Akufo-Addo also called on AU member states to put in more effort to ensure that the AfCFTA is successful once trading starts in January 2021.
“Covering a market of 1.2 billion people, with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of some US$3 trillion across the 54 member states of the AU that have signed the agreement, it will provide the vehicle for us to trade among ourselves in a more modern and sophisticated manner.
“It will offer a huge opportunity to exploit the abundant wealth and resources of our great continent for the benefit of all our peoples and it will give us protection in how to deal with other trading blocks.
“So I urge all member states to put in an extra effort to conclude all outstanding implementation issues for their adoption by the AU Assembly in the next extraordinary summit, scheduled for December 2020, to pave the way for the smooth commencement of trading come 1 January 2021,” the president said.
Ghana and Africa
“Ghana believes that an increase in trade is the surest way to deepen regional integration in Africa,” President Akufo-Addo said.
“It will mean a rapid increase in the exchange of agricultural, industrial, financial, scientific and technological products which will significantly impact our economic fortunes as a continent, create prosperity and provide opportunities for employment for the broad masses of Africans, particularly the youth,” the president said.
Chairman of the AU Commission
The chairman of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, gave a speech after formally receiving the AfCFTA Secretariat together with the secretary general of the AfCFTA, Wamkele Keabetswe Mene, from President Akufo-Addo and the Government of Ghana.
He expressed the AU’s appreciation for the effort Ghana has invested in making sure that the AfCFTA gets a befitting office complex for its work.
He charged the AfCFTA Secretariat to work closely with the AU Commission in order to implement the AfCFTA successfully.
Secretary general
The secretary general of the AfCFTA, Wamkele Keabetswe Mene, delivered a statement pledging that he will steer the affairs of the Secretariat, together with his staff, such that the aspirations of the African Union member states which formed the AfCFTA will be realised.
Foreign and trade ministers of Ghana
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, and the Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen, both made brief statements.
The ministers established the importance of the AfCFTA Secretariat to the successful implementation of the agreement.
They both said that their ministries stand ready to offer any support that the secretariat might need in order to make its stay and work in Ghana successful.
Wilberforce Asare / Asaase Radio
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